Let Me Go
by princechung
Summary: He was darkness incarnate wrapped in a thin layer of purity; she, a beacon of light and holiness. Why was the ancient Hero becoming the villain? Link Fortis is on the teeter totter of sanity, and one wrong move could result in a bad outcome. - Link/Zelda, Midna/Sheik, Dark Link. Warnings for blood, potential gore, drug and alcohol usage, and sex among teens. Read at your will. -
1. First Dream

so thanks to loveandzelink (user 2603491), i've gotten the inspiration to make this again! it's floating somewhere else on this website and/or ao3, but this is definitely the real version now. so, without further ado, i present with great care, _let me go_.

disclaimer: i don't own loz or anything in the story but my words and the plot.  
warnings for: drug use / abuse, underage drinking, general teenage tomfoolery

* * *

Fingers ran through blond, the ever familiar group of people surrounding him. Zelda, leaning against a poster of one of her movies (the teenage star being all too famous sometimes), Groose, leaning on Link's rolling chair. Sheik, laying next to Midna on Link's bed, Link himself in his ever familiar green camouflage beanbag chair. Impa, Zelda's manager and best friend, packing in the little green leaf pieces, sitting against her crush, Pipit, whom was setting up the glass and metal pipe for the plant.

Slowly, the pipe was passed around, Link's locked room being filled quite quickly with blown smoke rings. The feel of everyone was lazy, Zelda's head flopping to meet Link's shoulder as they dissolved into peals of stupid laughter over one of Sheik's many stupid jokes.

The pipe exchanged hands about as much as a note in class, Link doing a stupid impression of his history teacher -

"LINK FORTIS! GET DOWN HERE _THIS INSTANT_ YOUNG MAN!"

"Shit -" Pipe snuffed out, Link's body spray filled the room as he threw a piece of gum in his mouth and sprayed some on. Unlocking the door, he motioned to hide everything as he traveled downstairs to 'meet his fate'.

"Yes, Aunt Uli?" Chewing the stick of gum to hide his breath, the teen figured his bangs were enough to cover his eyes.

"You were supposed to pick up Aryll and Colin from their practices today!"

"I thought practices got out around five."

"It's six!"

"Oh... I'm sorry, Aunt Uli, I really am – I'll pick them up next time, promise." A flash of a super sweet smile – his aunt almost melted, sighing loudly in annoyance.

"Fine. Get them next time. Or you're in deep shit, mister."

"Got it!" A childish salute as he trotted back upstairs, locking the door and sighing with relief.

"I cannot believe you forgot to pick up your cousin and sister, Link." Sheik snorted, pulling out a cigarette for everyone. Link took it, leaning on Zelda in his beanbag chair.

"Oh hush, you." Tossing a shirt at him from the floor, Sheik dodged it – and it landed on Midna, who shrieked in feigned surprise, making everyone dissolve into laughter. In order to preserve some image of proper teens, the group whipped out homework, falsely discussing the book that Link and Zelda were reading for Gerudo Literature.

"Link, mama's ordering dinner. She wants to know if your friends are staying." Colin's young face popped into the room, blinking at the group.

"What's she ordering?"

"Pizza."

Zelda grinned, laying her head in Link's lap. If one did not know any better, one could assume they were dating.

"I've gotta get home, actually. My mom's making chocolate cake and I am _not_ missing that with those little kids." Pipit's mother ran an orphanage, and always made a chocolate cake once a week. Getting up and gathering his things, the teen grinned and waved goodbye, seeing himself out after saying goodbye to Uli.

"I think that leaves the rest of us." Groose chuckled, leaning further on the seat as his notebook lay in his lap – unopened.

"Ok!" Colin skipped back downstairs, and soon another young face popped into the room – one with a frown of disapproval, arms crossed.

"Really, big brother!? You're so _stupid_!" Yanking on his earring, Aryll Fortis began to lecture Link – who promptly could only cry out in pain from the tugging and try and pry her off without ripping out his piercing in the process. Eventually, Zelda managed to help him get her off, only for Aryll to grab his ear instead.

"Forgetting Colin and I!? Where's your brain!? You p _romised_ to protect me after mo-... You know!" Aryll was hurt by this, and Link had royally screwed up. Silently, everyone slinked to the hallway to give the two some much needed privacy.

"I'm sorry Aryll – I really am." After prying her off of his ear, the teen yanked her down into his arms, holding her close. "Just because I accidentally forgot you two once doesn't mean I'm not going to protect you. Just believe in me, ok?" Stroking her hair, the teen felt her arms wrap around his torso.

"... You big wimp, how can I believe you when you're so scrawny?" Aryll mumbled into his chest, prompting a deep, rich laugh from Link – one she liked to hear, as it signifyed that Link was fine and wouldn't leave her too.

"I've got the element of surprise! … Hey, you know what Fortis means?" Aryll shook her head, bright baby blues looking up into sapphires. "It means 'hero'. So, I'm your hero, then!"

Grinning despite the obvious smell of pot that lingered around him, despite the obvious reason that she was forgotten, Aryll knew Link wouldn't forget again – or let her down. "Doesn't that make me your hero, then, too?"

A soft chuckle. "Guess so, kiddo. I guess so. Promise to save me if things get too rough?"

"Promise! Promise to save me from big scary bullies?"

"Absolutely, positively." Ruffling her hair, getting a shriek of indignance as a reply, the teen grinned and stood up, standing her up on the floor.

"Help me with maths later?"

"You might want to ask Zelda – I'm not good at maths, remember."

"... You're _hopeless_ , big brother!"

Laughing, Link opened the door, deciding to keep it open with the window to air out. The group was downstairs, Groose and Impa playing some kind of fighting game with Colin while Zelda kept score. Aryll skipped into the kitchen to sneak a brownie, promptly being shooed out by Aunt Uli. Flopping onto the couch, Link scoffed at Groose's poor handling of the game.

"Lemme show you how it's done." Effortlessly, Link bested both Impa and Colin in less than two minutes.

"The _hell_?" Impa stared at Link, who simply shrugged and opened his mouth to reply, when –

" _LANGUAGE_!" Aunt Uli shook her fist playfully out of the kitchen at whomever dared to utter 'hell' in her house.

Link laughed, before stretching. "Learned it from dad I guess... He used to play games with me as a kid."

"And whoop you into next year."

" _Aryyyyyyyyll_!" Whining childishly, she scoffed at him, grinning nonetheless.

"Sometimes I wonder who's the _older_ sibling," teased Zelda, prompting a balled up piece of paper to be tossed at her from Link in indignation. This led to a laugh, and Zelda talking to Aryll about school – and her maths homework, of course. Link continued to thrash Impa in the game, Colin having taken up to watching.

Impa fought with might, putting up a good fight against Link's ultimately superior game play. However, Uncle Rusl came home from the station, and in a show of how childish he could be, picked up Colin's old spot and thrashed both Link and Impa instead of going to get changed and relax.

" _Auuuugh_! Uncle!"

"Remember, I taught your father what he taught you." Impa laughed, leaning back in the seat. The doorbell rang, proving the pizza to have arrived. Link slid to grab the money, paying the unfortunate classmate or young person to be the deliverer. Carrying the six boxes to the dining room table, everyone crowded around to grab what they wanted before it was gone.

Piled around the living room, the teens laughed and chattered, eating as Rusl and Uli watched them, eating at the table like proper adults. Zelda had squared away with Aryll to do her homework as they ate, Link and Impa talking with Groose about how exactly to play the game, Colin comforting Groose over not really understanding it. Midna and Shiek were leaning on one another, eating from eachother's plates instead of their own.

Groose went home after a while, and Impa left to run an errand or two for Zelda that involved managing her career. Zelda stayed, leaning on Link while he played against Shiek, Colin watching as the two of them stayed evenly matched. Midna was cheering on her boyfriend, the ruby eyed teen grinning as he kept Link on his toes.

"Don't stay up too late, kids, school tomorrow." Rusl warned them, waving goodbye to Zelda, Shiek, and Midna – usually they tended to be gone before morning. Uli was already upstairs, and Colin retired to bed a while after. Aryll stayed to fight her brother in the game, joining in against Shiek and Link. Around one in the morning, they left, leaving Link to slink upstairs to go to bed. Aryll had gone up about an hour earlier, and he found the blonde girl in his bed, curled up – waiting for him, but asleep.

Yawning, stripping down to his boxers and throwing on a tank top, Link crawled into bed, wrapping arms protectively around her. It took very little for him to sleep, but what he saw in his dreams would wake him for the rest of the night.

 _"W-What's going on? L-Link, I'm scared -"_

 _"It's ok Zelda. I'll relieve you of that fear, ok?"_

 _"L-Link, s-stop this! Sto-"_

 _Crimson everywhere, splattering walls and the blond._

 _Cold, dead sapphires staring, hurt and betrayed._

 _A laugh, high pitched and cold and too distorted to be his._

* * *

so that's it. r&r, 2nd chapter coming asap. this took me a while to write ehe.


	2. Normalcyish

second chapter ye! the disclaimers and warnings still hold true!

* * *

Dressing in his uniform, Link noticed Aryll slipping out of his bed and shuffling to the bathroom, yawning and mumbling something about needing to pee. Shaking his head with silent laughter, the blond tried hard not to dwell on his nightmare as he tugged on a green camouflage hoodie. What even was it...? Shaking his head, fingers grabbed his ever familiar green backpack, shoving notebooks and a few pens and pencils inside. Aryll went downstairs to eat, Link following close behind with his skateboard.

"Not eating, Link?"

"Not hungry." Yawning, he grabbed his skateboard, starting outside. "I'll pick Aryll and Colin up today, Aunt Uli!"

"Alright! Don't forget them this time!" Shaking her fist playfully after Link, Uli protectively watched as the teen rolled down the hill, hands in his pockets as he thought quietly. What even was that nightmare? He killed Zelda. But it didn't... Sound like him.

Sighing and stashing his board in his locker, he closed it to see Sheik grinning childishly at him and sliding something into Link's hoodie pocket. Link gave a little grin, nodding to him.

"So, how'd the night go after we left?" Grabbing a notebook, he slammed his locker, joining Link on his walk down the hall.

"Aryll slept in my room with me last night," Link answered lamely. "Otherwise, uneventful. Sleeping is very uneventful, y'know."

"Oh shut up smart mouth." Sheik laughed, sliding into the usual three person table in their chemistry class. Impa hurried in, sliding smoothly into the seat next to Link's other side.

"What's up, little miss manager?" A contract was smacked onto the desk between Sheik and Link, Impa's eyes alight with their usual managerial fervor.

"This! Only one of the best directors out there – wants to contract Zelda – lead role!" The girl was trembling with excitement while Link read over the contract.

"Uhh... Impa? It's not just for the lead role in one movie. He wants to contract her for the next three of his productions as the leads." Link nearly caught a nail to the face when she snatched up the contract, re-reading it with shaking hands.

Sheik grabbed his trembling cousin's arm. "Whoa there girlie, chill your tits before they pop off."

Impa nearly shrieked in delight, bouncing up and down in her seat. "This is monumental! Zelda already has her foot in the door of stardom, this will just boost her up even more and – ... Hang on." Squinting, she mumbled something under her breath.

"He wants Zelda's friends, too. For all three. Up to ten."

"Eh? Really?" Link cupped a chin, before taking the contract back and re-reading it. "By law, he can't sign a contract with one person and get up to ten extra. He would have to approach us and ask. And if word got out about this, Zelda would be flocked to by literally anyone who wants to taste fame and fortune."

"There's a true point – eh, fuck, Mr. Rauru's coming." Impa shoved the contract back into the thick managerial folder she carried, hiding it from view. Rauru didn't exactly like the fact that she was a manager, let alone manager of another student. He considered the famous and fortunate to be 'insignificant children who dedicate themselves to vanity and fortunes instead of enlightenment and knowledge' (and yet, Zelda was the smartest in their year).

Chemistry went by surprisingly uneventfully (ever since Link was banned from using chemicals after last year's _disaster_ – don't ask him about it), and Gerudo Literature was next on Link's schedule. Waving goodbye to Impa and Sheik as they raced to gym, he met up with Zelda at their usual pair table. Link kept Impa's contract she had acquired for Zelda to potentially take a secret, so instead of bringing it up he started a crusade of tic-tac-toe – and losing miserably. After Mrs. Mediocris-Lignum, the wife of the principal Deku Lignum, slapped the desk for them to pay attention, they shoved the scratched up and marked up paper underneath their shared textbook.

Lunch came quickly after maths and Lorulean Language. Sliding into the table with his pizza and double fries (courtesy of Aryll – she hated the school fries), Link noticed that Impa was excitedly explaining the contract in full to Zelda, who looked just as excited as she did. After taking a mouthful of fries, Link had to choke on them for a good moment.

"So... Link, Sheik, Pipit, Impa, Midna, Colin, Aryll, and Groose... That's who I'd choose." Sheik thumped Link's back until he swallowed the fried potatoes in his mouth, gasping for air.

" **Nanda, Zelda!? Naze boku mo kōdō dekimasen boku o erabudarou!** " Sheik snickered at Link's outburst, before tapping his arm.

"Hey, dude, that's _Islander_. Not Hyrulian." Flushing at Sheik's words, Link shot out a translation.

"What the hell, Zelda!? Why would you pick me I can't even act!"

Zelda laughed a little, before stealing a fry – with a cry of indignation – from Link. Nibbling on it, she answered. "Because. You're my friend. And I'm not going to have people become my friends just for this kind of opportunity. I'd rather have my own friends by my side instead of fake people."

Link sighed, throwing his hands up in the air. "Fine, I'll do it. The things I do for you, Zells."

"You love me," she teased, earning another flush and the toss of a napkin at her.

"Oh shut up!" Stuffing a few more fries in his mouth, Link nearly choked again when Aryll yanked him by the earring again.

"You left your art project in the art room! She told you take it home!"

"Ow ow ow ow ow – Aryll I'll _get_ it! I have her next!" His mouthful of food was thankfully swallowed so he wasn't talking with a lump of potato in his mouth.

"You **better** , you big dummy!" Huffing, she slid into the seat, she began to eat her pizza, Colin rolling his eyes a tad while sliding into the seat, eating the salad he picked up. Colin wasn't really big on meats or cheeses from school (not after the "Sickening" as Link had christened it). Lunch went by with hushed conversation about the contract, discussions, and a unanimous "yes" from all present – accompanied by the classic Link Eyeroll, patent pending. The rest of the day was uneventful, Link hitching a ride with everyone to get back home with the art project in hand – a statuette of the legendary hero, the Hero of Time.

"It's kind of funny how much the Hero of Time looks like you, Link," mumbled Sheik, eyeing the statuette. Link's little thing was nearly identical to the original statuette he was supposed to be imitating, only his had paint on it (Link believed in free expression).

"He does? God dammit where are my ladies then, this guy must've had a lot." The entire car burst into laughter, the nightmare completely slipping Link's mind as he seeped into his usual state.

* * *

please r&r if you enjoyed, and the third chapter will be done asap! i don't really have an update schedule though, yet. when i get one, i'll notify!


	3. Accident

started this while downloading TERA from Steam (god Steam takes fuckin' forever jfc). disclaimers still stand, yadda yadda.

* * *

Fingers plucked keys from the candy dish near the door, a rich, young voice calling out. "Aunt Uli! Borrowing the car to go pick up the kids!"

"Be safe, Link!"

"I will!" Swinging open the door, he locked it shut before getting into the car. The car was... An odd amalgamation of everyone's favorite colors. Link's favorite green was the inside carpets, Colin's navy blue was the car shell outside. Rusl's black was the wheel and dashboard, while Uli's pink was the inside of the trunk, and Aryll's ever present white was the seats (try getting away with food in that car ─ not happening). The car was well known in Hyrule just for that simple reason... And the fact that it was pretty cool looking and unique.

Fiddling with the radio station, Link drove down toward the school's practice fields, with Colin and Aryll waiting by the curb.

"You didn't forget this time, dummy." Aryll huffed, sliding into the front seat. Suddenly, an uneasy feeling passed over Link.

"Aryll. Get in the back seat."

"Eh? Why!? I always sit here!"

"Please, just trust me."

"Hmph, fine!" Pouting a bit, she crawled to the back obediently, tennis shirt riding up a tad to where Link hastily tugged it back down. Colin was already in the back, flute case in hand as he shut his door.

'Why did...?' Trying to shake his mind off of it, he changed the radio to Colin and Aryll's favorite shared station for no fighting over music, listening to the two duet the silly pop and pop-rock songs that played.

Suddenly, a car came hurtling down the road towards them, swerving and in the wrong lane.

"Shit ─" Unbuckling himself, Link flung himself into the backseat, dragging Colin and Aryll down underneath him the very moment the cars collided. All the teen could remember before blacking out was Colin's terrified scream and Aryll's cries for Link out of fear.

 _" **Wow, talk about heroic... Not.**"_

 _"Who are you?"_

 _" **Just a little... Something something to spice up your boring life.**"_

 _"... Excuse me? What are you? Answer me!"_

 _" **Chill with the demands, princess. I'm you. Just... A different you, kehe.**"_

 _"What are you talking about...?"_

 _" **You'll find out when the time is right. Now, do us a favor.** "_

 _"What do you want."_

 _" **Get up.** "_

"Link? Link?" Aryll's terrified, soft whispers were all the blond heard during his first moments of consciousness. Eyelids fluttering open, all he could register was the last few moments of what happened during the collision. Flinging himself up, he began to clamber out of bed... If it weren't for eight pairs of hands pulling him back into the bed.

"Calm down! Link, relax, it's over!" Zelda's voice was what snapped him out of it, bleary blue eyes looking up. She wasn't there during it. Nor were there eight people. So... It was over. Snapping his head to one side, Colin and Aryll: Colin, with a large scrape on one side of his face and a broken wrist. Aryll, a few burns on her arm and a broken ankle. Both relatively unscathed, breathing a sigh of relief from Link; whom slowly came back to earth.

"You gave us a nasty scare there, son," Rusl's voice caused his head to lean upwards, blue eyes blinking a little.

Uli finally broke composure, wrapping her thick arms around his neck. "You idiot!" If it weren't for him just waking up, she'd have probably knocked him unconscious again with a fist to the skull. "Made me _worry_ ─ _**reckless** little __**shit**_ ─ thank the _Goddesses_ you're alright." Uli's way of showing care was odd, but it made Link smile anyway.

"H-How... Ow..." Rubbing his throat from misuse, he tried again. "W-What happened...?"

"Drunk driver swerved in and out of your lane. Crashed into you. By the force of impact, if you hadn't flung yourself over Colin and Aryll..." Rusl cut off, looking at the wall. "Driver died on impact."

If he hadn't done what he did, he would've died.

"Well, that explains Aunt Uli's behavior." Cracking jokes in the face of near death: _classic_ Link.

"You big dummy!" Aryll huffed at him, looking close to tears again. But a small smile signified that she did find it a tad funny.

"You big dummy indeed." Uli huffed, letting him go after smoothing back his hair.

Sheik seemed to tug himself from the woodwork, grinning a tad. "The day you actually pick them up is the day you nearly die. Amazing, wonder what'll happen if you remember your homework."

"Sheik when I get up I swear I will kick you in the throat." Deadpan, Link frowned before cracking a grin. Zelda's fingers gently weaved through his hair, picking up where Uli left off. Midna laughed, leaning on Sheik.

"Well, at least you're alright. You've been out for a week."

Choking on air, Link stared as if Midna grew three heads and breathed molten lava onto the floor. "A week!?"

"A TBI, three broken ribs, sprained ankle, and a surgically replaced kneecap, as well as a skin graft around your abdomen. You took the brunt of the collision. Hell, you're lucky your spine's intact." Rusl, blunt as ever, frowned a little. The childish side of him seemed nonexistent, now, not with his brother's son so battered and bruised.

"We didn't think you'd even wake up... A brain injury's serious, Link." Zelda looked tired and worn, eyes creased with gratitude of his awakening.

"So does this put me on the list of people to use the elevators at school? Always wanted to use them. Stairs are so last year." Zelda shook her head and laughed a little, letting go of his hair.

"Dork," she mumbled softly, rolling her eyes.

"What else happened? I don't really remember much before blacking out."

"Well, before you started driving home, you told Aryll get in the back and asking her to trust you on it... And then it was a normal car ride. We didn't see the other car until you began to just move, and throw yourself over us... We were really worried, Link..." Colin's voice was soft. Even with his father as the chief of police, hearing these kinds of stories was different from actually being part of one. After a brief moment, Link looked at everyone, mouthing to leave himself, Aryll, and Colin alone for a moment ─ which was soon obeyed, everyone else shuffling out for a moment to stand in the hall. Zelda hurried to the gift shop with Sheik and Midna while Rusl and Uli talked to Link's nurse.

"You two, come here." Managing to scoot over on the bed, he patted the one side after getting the guardrail down. After a moment the two hobbled up on the bed, Colin needing help because of his wrist. With careful movements, Link held both of the preteens to his chest, burying his face in their hair.

"I'm glad you two are ok. I could care _less_ what happened to me. That's not my concern. My concern is you two."

"B-But!" Both of them stammered at once, looking indignant. Aryll frowned, looking torn between slapping him or yanking his ear. She did neither, instead burying her face within the sleeve of her brother's hospital gown.

"No buts, you two. I wouldn't want to lose either of you. Not while I'm standing. Aryll, you mean so much to me. You're all I have in our immediate family, and I'm not losing you. Not after mom and dad, not after grandma. And Colin ─ you're my cousin, you're the one who showed me around Castletown and gave me my board all those years ago. You've been there as much as Aryll. And I'm not losing you either." Aryll's fingers gripped his gown, face hidden within the sleeve.

"But..."

"No buts, Colin. No buts. Your's is cute and all, but that's incest." Colin cracked a smile at Link's stupid joke, earning a bright grin back.

"Aryll, go see what aunt and uncle are doin', 'k? Wanna talk to Colin." Nodding at Link's words, she grabbed her crutches and hobbled out of the room, Colin's good hand opening the door for her.

"Come here, dork." Rolling his eyes, Colin climbed back onto the bed with a tad bit of difficulty, laying down next to Link - who laid as well, carefully maneuvering his arm underneath Colin's head so it wouldn't pull on his ribs.

"Anything you wanna talk about?" Link's voice left no room for question, really ─ he wanted to know if Colin was alright. He may have a traumatic brain injury, but nothing would make him forget asking about the others. Aryll was more hardheaded than Colin, so he could worry less about her ─ she was only a worry if a _boy_ got involved with her life (Link was the **overprotective** brother, after all). Colin was the softie, the one it was harder to predict how he'd act after this.

"... I'm scared. Don't want it to happen again... I... You were out for so long... Didn't know when you'd wake up, and..." Tears pricked his eyes, prompting Link's fingers to carefully stroke his hair.

"Oi, I'm fine, don't go all water works on me now. I'm fine, aren't I? You're safe. I'm fine. Aryll's safe. That's all that matters."

"But!"

"What did I tell you about buts Colin?"

A grin cracked the other's lips for a moment, "Fine... At least you're ok."

"There, happier now?" Link grinned, ruffling his hair as Colin sat up, Link springing up a moment after.

"They said you're gonna need a wheelchair until physical therapy deems you ready with that new kneecap, but you can go home after a check up and plenty of medication prescriptions. You're on an IV of morphine after all. I'm guessing they're not risking you falling down a flight of stairs with crutches."

"At least I can wear my own clothes," Link mused, grinning and taking the nurse's and Uli's help into getting into the wheelchair. Sheik took on the task of wheeling him, giving Link a sly grin that the wheelchair bound teen returned. The moment Link was officially discharged with all the prescriptions and the therapy referral, Sheik pushed him towards the elevator, leading him and everyone else outside... Only to wheel frantically towards Rusl's patrol car, Link laughing maniacally into the daylight hours and cheering, Rusl chasing them both and screaming to slow down and be careful.

And once more, that strange figure in the very back of Link's mind was shoved into nothing once more, his thoughts preoccupied with getting better.

* * *

and update schedule!

every 5~7 days, expect an update!

I'll be working on a thesis paper + training for my new job, so it might be longer for the next update, but expect it within a reasonable time after june 1st! (maybe on june 1st if I'm lucky lmao)

r&r please! this helps me a lot!


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